The Arsenal City

The summer sun, climbing toward warm noon, had started the heat waves dancing from the brown Tiber, from the seven ancient hills, from the great stone piazza before St. Peter's, from the dusty brick and weathered marble of the Colosseum and the Forum. Now out of that sun came the sound and the sight Rome had long been spared: the drone of a hostile air fleet, the wings of hostile bombers.

Perhaps three million stunned people, jampacked in a city that normally houses about 1,000,000, scanned the sky or scurried to the shelters they had hoped never to use. Now the drone grew mighty, the wings trailed shadows over the rooftops. But no bombs yet, for a brief space. Only the glint and flutter of leaflets falling, with this message:

"To the citizens of Rome: You have already been warned that military objectives in the vicinity of Rome are liable to be bombed by the Allied air force. When this occurs the Fascist Government . . . will pretend that we are trying to destroy those cultural monuments which are the glory not only of Rome but the civilized world. It is possible, moreover . . . that the Fascist Government or their German associates will themselves arrange that bombs will be dropped on the center of Rome or even on Vatican City.

"We leave it to your intelligence to decide whether it is likely that we should waste our efforts on targets whose destruction is useless for our purpose. . . . We repeat that we shall be aiming at military objectives. . . ."

Bombs Away. At 11:13 a.m. the first bomb bay opened. Chief target was the immense railroad marshaling yard about four miles from St. Peter's, two miles from the Forum, one and a half miles from the Fascist Government offices. The Allied communique understated: "The marshaling yard ... is of greatest importance to the Axis war effort, and in particular for the movement of German troops." The smashing of Rome's central rail terminal would mean the smashing of Italy's main north-south communications, would go a long way toward paralyzing reinforcement of southern Italy and Sicily.

Before the U.S. mediums and heavies, striking from North African bases 350 miles away, and the mediums, probably striking from newly won fields on Sicily turned south again, they gave side attention to another railway yard, several airdromes. Among other targets available for later raids: power plants built close to religious and cultural shrines; army barracks along the Tiber; aircraft, chemical and rayon factories on the city's outskirts.

Words Away. Before the last bomb had fallen in the first raid on the Eternal City, the Allies broadcast the news. Thereby they scored first in a violent battle of propaganda that was certain to develop. The world--particularly the Catholic world inside and outside the Axis fortress --was told how Allied airmen carefully trained for this mission, how they studied huge maps, absorbed repeated instructions, took unusual risks in daylight, all to avoid as far as possible the damaging of religious and cultural buildings. Many of the airmen--as many as possible--were Catholics and aboard their planes were seven U.S. and British correspondents to vouch for the meticulous care with which the bombs were aimed.

For three years the Allies had forborne. In those three years Mussolini had clamored for and received the privilege of bombing London. Axis planes had not forborne, because of religious and esthetic sensibilities, assaults on Rotterdam and Cairo. In those three years the Fascists had made Rome one of the greatest of

Italy's military centers. Now they could no longer hide their capital behind the skirts of the Papacy or civilization's reverence for a grander Rome.

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